Industrial lift trucks

ABSTRACT

D R A W I N G AN INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK COMPRISES A MAST HAVING AN UPRIGHT MEMBER, A MOVABLE MEMBER SLIDABLE UP AND DOWN IN RELATION TO THE UPRIGHT MEMBER, THE UPRIGHT MEMBER HAVING A CHANNEL SECTION WITH A WEB PART AND FLANGES FACING THE MOVABLE MEMBER, A ROLLER ASSEMBLY MOUNTED ON THE MOVABLE MEMBER BETWEEN THE FLANGES OF THE CHANNEL SECTION AND COMPRISING AN OUTER ROLLER ENGAGING THE FLANGES OF THE CHANNEL SECTION, A HOUSING AROUND WHICH THE OUTER ROLLER IS ROTATABLY MOUNTED, REMOVABLE BOLTS SECURING THE HOUSING TO THE MOVABLE MEMBER, AN INNER ROLLER MOUNTED WITHIN THE HOUSING AND PARTIALLY PROJECTING THEREFROM TO ENGAGE THE WEB PART OF THE CHANNEL SECTION, AND A MOUNTING FOR THE INNER ROLLER WHICH IS ADJUSTABLE WITHIN THE HOUSING TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID WEB PART. THE MOUNTING FOR THE INNER ROLLER SLIDES ALONG THE BOLTS WHICH THEREBY PREVENT ROTATION OF THE MOUNTING, AND THE ROLLER ASSEMBLY AS A WHOLE IS SLIDABLE ALONG THE CHANNEL SECTION UPON REMOVAL OF THE BOLTS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. GOODACRE Sept. 20, 1971 INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCKS Filed Aug. 28, 1969 339 5 6 0 M /L/ 2 l J Q m i m M 5, w .4 m \fi, FFMH IHMWI Ill 7 I FIIILPI ./Il\

5 I 2 lllll j Sept. 20, 1971 R. eoooAcRE INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Aug. 28, 1969 United States Patent Oifice 3,605,950 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 3,605,950 INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCKS Ronald Goodacre, Basiugstoke, England, assignor to Lansing Bagnall Limited, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England Filed Aug. 28, 1969, Ser. No. 853,739 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 30, 1968, 41,602/ 68 Int. Cl. 1566b 9/20 U.S. Cl. 1879 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An industrial lift truck comprises a mast having an upright member; a movable member slidable up and down in relation to the upright member, the upright member having a channel section with a web part and flanges facing the movable member; a roller assembly mounted on the movable member between the flanges of the channel section and comprising an outer roller engaging the flanges of the channel section, a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, removable bolts securing the housing to the movable member, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom to engage the web part of the channel section, and a mounting for the inner roller which is adjustable within the housing towards and away from said web part. The mounting for the inner roller slides along the bolts which thereby prevent rotation of the mounting, and the roller assembly as a whole is slidable along the channel section upon removal of the bolts.

The invention relates to industrial lift trucks. According to the invention an industrial lift truck comprises: a mast having an upright member, a movable member slidable up and down in relation to the upright member, one member having a channel section with a web part and flanges facing the other member; a roller assembly mounted on the other member between the flanges of the channel section and comprising an outer roller engaging at least one flange of the channel section, a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, removable bolts securing the housing to said other member, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom to engage the web part of the channel section, a mounting for the inner roller which is adjustable within the housing towards and away from said web part, and guide means for the mounting which prevent rotation of the mounting, the roller assembly as a whole being slidable along the channel section upon removal of the aforesaid bolts.

The movable member may be a further upright member of the mast. For example, the first said upright member of the mast may be fixed and the further upright member may be slidable up and down thereon.

Preferably the bolts are disposed at least partially within the housing, and the mounting for the inner roller has a part which engages and is slidable along the bolts, the bolts thereby constituting said guide means.

The mounting for the inner roller may comprise end bearings for a shaft carrying the inner roller, the end bearings being slidably engageable with the bolts. For example, the external surfaces of the end bearings may be formed with recesses which slidably engage the bolts.

The housing for the inner roller may be in the form of a circular cross-section hollow sleeve clamped, by means of said bolts, between an annular face plate and a part of said other upright.

There may be provided a plug in screw threaded engagement with a part on said other upright which plug engages the mounting for the inner roller whereby the roller may be adjusted towards the web part of said one upright my adjustment of said plug.

Said other upright is preferably formed with a longitudinal recess adapted to receive part of said inner roller as the roller assembly is slide along the channel section after removal of the bolts.

The invention includes within its scope a roller assembly for use in an industrial lift truck of any of the kinds referred to above and comprising: an outer roller; a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, bolts adapted to secure the housing to an upright, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom, the axes of rotation of the two rollers being at right angles to one another, a mounting for the inner roller, and guide means to prevent rotation of the mounting relatively to the housing.

-By way of example, a specific embodiment in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross-section through part of the extensible mast of an industrial lift truck;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of a roller assembly fitted to one of the movable uprights of the extensible mast of the industrial lift truck;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the inner roller of the roller assembly shown in FIG. 1, the front plate of the roller assembly being removed; and

FIG. 4 is an end elevation of the roller assembly shown in FIG. 2 as viewed in the direction of arrow A.

The subject of this example comprises a roller assembly forming part of the extensible mast of an industrial lift truck. FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through part of such a mast. The mast shown comprises three nested pairs of spaced apart uprights, only one upright of each pair being shown in FIG. 1. The uprights are channel-sectioned. The uprights 10 of one pair are fixed to the body portion of the truck, the uprights 11 of a second pair are slidable up and down the uprights 10; and the uprights 9 are slidable up and down the uprights 10 a load carrier 8 is slidable up and down the uprights 9 on rollers 7 to guide the sliding movement between the uprights during extension or contraction of the mast, there are provided guide rollers 13, 6 which are rotatably mounted on the uprights 11 and 9 respectively and are in rolling engagement with the flanges of the uprights 11 and 10 respectively. The guide rollers are mounted to rotate about axes which extend transversely of the truck, and the said flanges of the channel-sectioned uprights also extending transversely of the truck.

In order to counteract side thrust of the moving uprights, further side thrust rollers 15 and 5 are mounted on the uprights l1 and 9 respectively and act on the Web portions of the channel-sectioned uprights 10 and 11 respectively. The side thrust rollers 15, 5 rotate about axes extending in the fore-and-aft direction. In order to save space it is desirable that the axis of a side thrust roller should be in the same plane as the axis of the associated guide roller, and moreover that the side thrust roller should be adjustable towards and away from the web of the upright against which the side thrust roller is desired to act. In the construction shown the roller assembly 12 incorporating the side thrust roller achieves this result, and will now be described.

The roller assembly 12 is mounted on the moving upright 11 adjacent its lower end. As mentioned above the roller assembly 12 comprises the outer guide roller 13 which is located between the transverse flanges 14 of the fixed upright 10, and the inner side thrust roller 15 which acts against the web 16 of the fixed upright 10.

The guide roller 13 is mounted on a roller bearing 131, supported by a hollow ring 19 for rotation about an axis 22 which is transverse to the web 17 of the moving upright 11. The sleeve 19 is attached to the Web 17 by four bolts 21 which pass through holes 18 in the web 17, and through the sleeve 19 into tapped holes in a disc-like plate 20 on the remote side of the sleeve from the web 17. These bolts 21 thus extend longitudinally of the axis 22 of the guide roller 13.

The side thrust roller 15 is carried on a shaft 23 having an axis which is parallel to the web 17 of the moving upright 11 (and thus at right angles to the axis 22 of the guide roller) and is held at both ends by C-shaped end bearings 24. These end bearings have external recesses 25 for engagement by the aforesaid bolts 21, which bolts thereby preclude rotary movement of the end bearings and hence of the side thrust roller about the axis 22 of the guide roller.

However, movement of the side thrust roller 15 along the axis 22 of the guide roller adjusts the position of the side thrust roller so that it contacts the web 16 of the fixed upright 10, and the bolts 21 act as guide means during such movement.

To effect such axial movement of the side thrust roller, there is provided a plug 35 which is threaded into a socket 26 in the web 17 of the moving upright 11 and which engages the adjacent surfaces of the end bearings 24. This plug is provided with a central hexagonal hole 27 for reception of a suitable tool to rotate the plug and is also provided with a radial nylon insert 28 to restrain the plug from undesired rotation, e.g. due to vibration.

Lubricating nipples 29 and channels 30 are provided for the bearings 131, 24.

In order to remove the roller assembly 12 from between the uprights 10, 11, the plug is unscrewed to allow the side thrust roller 15 to move out of contact with the web 16 of the fixed upright and to allow vertical movement of the side thrust roller past the plug. Next the bolts 21 are removed. It will be seen from FIG. 3 that the edges of the end bearings 24, alongside the recesses 25, engage the internal surface of the sleeve 19, so that the bearings remain supported within the sleeve after the bolts 21 are removed. The whole roller assembly can then be lowered between the upright 10, 11 and separated therefrom, the side thrust roller passing down a vertical groove 31 provided in the moving upright 11 and aligned with the side thrust roller. The roller assembly or another roller assembly may be inserted by reversing the order of the above-mentioned steps. It will thus be appreciated that removal or insertion of the roller assembly may be achieved with the mast uprights assembled together.

The invention is not restricted to the specific details of the example described above. For example, the roller assembly may be attached to the load-lifting carriage of the truck, in which case the guide roller and the side thrust roller would engage the flanges and the web respectively of the moving upright 11.

The invention is also not restricted to the use of the roller assembly with an industrial lift truck.

I claim:

1. An industrial lift truck comprising: a mast having an upright member; a movable member slidable up and down in relation to the upright member, one member having a channel section with a web part and flanges facing the other member; a roller assembly mounted on the other member between the flanges of the channel section and comprising an outer roller engaging at least one flange of the channel section, a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, removable bolts securing the housing to said other member and disposed at least partially within the housing, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom to engage the web part of the channel section, a mounting for the inner roller which is adjustable within the housing towards and away from said web part and which engages and is slidable along the bolts, and guide means for the mounting which prevent rotation of the mounting, the guide means including the bolts and the roller assembly as a whole being slidable along the channel section upon removal of the aforesaid bolts.

2. An industrial lift truck according to claim 1 wherein the movable member is a further upright member of the mast.

3. An industrial lift truck according to claim 2 wherein the first said upright member of the mast is fixed and the further upright member is slidable up and down thereon.

4. An industrial lift truck according to claim 1 wherein the mounting for the inner roller comprises end bearings for a shaft carrying the inner roller, the end bearings being slidably engageable with the bolts.

5. An industrial lift truck according to claim 4 wherein the external surfaces of the end bearings are formed with recesses which slidably engage the bolts.

6. An industrial lift truck according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a plug in screw threaded engagement with a part on said other member, which plug engages the mounting for the inner roller whereby the roller may be adjusted towards the web part of said one member by adjustment of said plug.

7. A roller assembly, for use in an industrial lift truck according to claim 1 and comprising: an outer roller; a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, bolts adapted to secure the housing to an upright member, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom, the axes of rotation of the two rollers being at right angles to one another, a mounting for the inner roller, and guide means to prevent rotation of the mounting relatively to the housing.

8. An industrial lift truck comprising: a mast having an upright member; a movable member slidable up and down in relation to the upright member, one member having a channel section with a web part and flanges facing the other member; a roller assembly mounted on the other member between the flanges of the channel section and comprising an outer roller engaging at least one flange of the channel section, a housing in the form of a circular cross-section hollow sleeve around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, an annular face plate, removable bolts securing the housing between the face plate and a part of the other member, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom to engage the web part of the channel section, a mounting for the inner roller which is adjustable Within the housing to wards and away from said web part, and guide means for the mounting which prevent rotation of the mounting, the roller assembly as a whole being slidable along the channel section upon removal of the aforesaid bolts.

9. An industrial lift truck comprising: a mast having an upright member; a movable member slidable up and down in relation to the upright member, one member having a channel section with a web part and flanges facing the other member; a roller assembly mounted on the other member between the flanges of the channel section and comprising an outer roller engaging at least one flange of the channel section, a housing around which the outer roller is rotatably mounted, removable bolts securing the housing to said other member, an inner roller mounted within the housing and partially projecting therefrom to References Cited engage the web part of the channel section, a mounting for the inner roller which is adjustable within the housing UNITED STATES PATENTS towards and away from said web part, and guide means 2,444,432 7/1948 Eckert u 308% for the mounting which prevent rotation of the mounting, 5 2'679'437 5/1954 'Pusztay 308-6 the roller assembly as a whole'being slidable along the 2'881031 4/1959 comfort 308-6 channel section upon removal of the aforesaid bolts, and said other member being formed with a longitudinal recess HARVEY HORNSBY Pnmary Exammer adapted to receive part of said inner roller as the roller U S Cl X R assembly is slid along the channel section after removal 10 308 6 of the bolts. 

